Slaying Mountains
by OS
Summary: When Naruto is banished from Konoha following the events at the valley of the end, he finds a new place to live and a new girl to save. NaruxOC SotCxover
1. the beginning

"Normal" – Spoken word

"_Italics" _– thoughts/flashbacks

"**Bold" - **Demon/ higher being spoken word

"_**Bold Italics" – **_Demon/higher being thoughts or Kyuubified Naruto spoken word

AN: a quick edit, I'm sick so the new chap will be delayed till at least tomorrow evening if not monday depending on how I feel. there's a little extra dialogue in the middle so you'll probably want to read that.

**Slaying Mountains**

**Prologue**

By OS

It was over.

He had lost, and he was broken.

Sasuke's betrayal at the valley of the end had utterly destroyed him. He had broken his promise, to himself, to his friends, and most importantly, to Sakura. He now lay bandaged, damaged in the uncomfortable cot. Sifting over the last charge in his mind, trying to understand when and how they had changed.

_Flashback_

"_Why Teme! We're supposed to be friends!"_

"_We are, in fact I consider you my best friend, it'll give your life more meaning when I take it"_

"_Chidori!" "Rasengan!"_

_The attacks had clashed… violently_

_Flashback end_

CRASH! His head snapped up from where he'd been watching his hands absentmindedly fray his bandages, to the door to his hospital room. He saw the godaime (sp?) standing in the doorframe looking defeated. Tsunade was trying in vain to keep the tears from falling out of her eyes.

"Baa-chan? What's wrong?"

"The council, Naruto, they're lobbying for your exile from the village"

"Really? I can't really say I'm surprised. Do the temes want me gone forever, or for a set time?"

She schooled her features into 'hokage mode'

"They're calling for 'indefinite suspension' but I managed to get your sentence reduced to 1 year, they agreed… with conditions they want to temporarily strip you of your title, so that means no pay, and the bastards said 'Konohagakure cannot afford to spare ninjas to baby-sit you'"

He was in shock

"Bu-""I know, just think of it as a vacation to round your skills as hokage, now they want you out of the village by dawn. Jiraiya can't accompany you, but he left this with me to give to you" she tossed him a scroll "and he said that you should travel north out of Hi No Kuni (elemental countries), the people there are kind, and they will have much for you to learn"

"So go pack and say your good byes"

She grabbed him in a tight hug and headed for the door, "oh and Naruto" "…yeah?" "I'm sorry."

He sat for a good five minutes before the reality of everything hit him; for the next year, he was going to be alone, the thought of it terrified him, he sat paralyzed in fear for around an hour before Kyuubi galvanized him into action.

"**Kit, get moving, leave happy and come back strong enough to fulfill your promise to your 'Sa-ku-ra'"**

That jolted him, the fur-ball had actually made the effort to refer to her by name, not only that, but the fox could now communicate with him in his head. He figured it was due to the massive amount of chakra he'd called upon during the fight.

Nearly an hour later he'd packed everything worth taking besides his ramen collection into his travel backpack, and gathered the sand siblings, team Gai and the rookie nine (minus he and Sasuke) into the room that Neji, Choji and Kiba were staying in. They were all mulling around wondering why he wanted them there so badly, when the door opened and Naruto had walked in, they were surprised by his gait and the overall way he carried himself. Where before he'd been unshakable in his happy-go-lucky attitude and his happiness, now he looked defeated, _tired_; true, he still gave off that vibe that made people into better people, but he seemed… sick, to say that those who knew, or had even briefly encountered him were shocked was an understatement.

Naruto, wearing his normal orange outfit, albeit the jacket unzipped, revealing a blue t-shirt, walked over to the window and threw it open to lean out and enjoy the setting sun. He stood up straight, reached up to his hitai-ate (sp?) and untied it. He seemed to be studying it for a moment before he put his foot on the window sill.

"I'm leaving" was all he said

And before anyone had a chance to question him, he had thrown his hitai-ate over his shoulder and jumped out of the window, heading for the northern gate of the village.

Before anyone could do anything he yelled "take care of that headband, I'll be back for it in exactly 1 year!"

His friends and acquaintances had taken some solace in knowing that he'd be back. But Sakura, still reeling from the loss of Sasuke had taken his departure harder than the others.

Sobbing, she somehow made it over to the discarded hitai-ate, and picked it up. A piece of paper had fallen out, it read "Sakura, I'm leaving this and a gift to you, go to my apartment and look underneath the underneath, tell everyone that I'll be fine

Naruto"

"Naruto no baka" she mumbled with a small smile on her face while clutching the letter to her chest.

Meanwhile, Naruto had started his journey north.

**Slaying Mountains**

It had been eight months since he left, and six months since he'd found the village of northern people that Jiraiya had told him about. The village itself was a northern fishing and trade village, with seas on the west, rivers to the east, and mountains north. It was situated on and in a large mountain of its own and surrounded by forest. They had indeed made him strong, along with continuing his own training, they'd taught him the basics of their swordplay, which involved a heavy one handed sword, archery with a short bow, he felt he was still better with kunai, he'd taken to horseback riding like a fish to water, and after 3 weeks they'd given him his own horse, a young, fiercely loyal and laid back pure white draft with a diamond shaped gray mark on his head, whom he'd fondly named Kinaga. And an eccentric old man had even taught him to "jump good" (I'll do my best to grant one request to whoever can figure out this reference first).

With his strength had come maturity, he'd picked up an extraordinary amount of tact traveling through Hi No Kuni, the Kyuubi had also triggered a growth spurt in the youth, making him almost six feet tall. His hair had grown longer and hung down around his neck, still unruly as ever. With his new growth, he'd been forced to find new clothes; he'd bought a baggy blue jacket with orange adorning the shoulders, and blue pants with an orange stripe running down the sides of the legs. He kept the jacket unzipped, revealing an orange shirt, and he wore his necklace (Tsunade's necklace) out for the world to see (think his original clothes, but blue where orange should be, and orange where blue should be, and an orange stripe running down the legs)

On the second night he'd been there, he'd been introduced with the village shaman's daughter. A woman around a year older than him by the name of Yoi, she had flowing black hair and striking green eyes, she was just slightly taller than him (post growth spurt), she had a nice figure and a smile that radiated joy. Her kindness and courage had given him a crush on her to rival the one he had on Sakura.

But recently, there had been a plague sweeping the land, the forest near the village was dying, the normally docile animals were going wild and the water was making people sick. The village elders had seen this before and advised the ritual master to 'make a sacrifice as pure as fresh snow' because that saved the village the last time the plague struck.

After thinking long and hard about this, the beleaguered shaman came to a heart-wrenching decision; he would sacrifice his own daughter Yoi, to save their home. He could not expect another family to bear such a burden, and he knew Yoi would selflessly agree.

Yoi and Naruto meanwhile had become attached to one another, and when her father told her that she was to bear the burden and save the village. She couldn't bear to see Naruto, so she didn't tell him about the ceremony. The day of the ceremony, Naruto was to fish and explore the sea floor and she knew she would be gone by the time he got back.

Two weeks later, the preparations were done, a twelve foot by twelve foot stone slab was placed in the center of the dying village, and intricate runes were carved into it, Yoi, dressed in a flowing white dress, laid down on the slab. Yoi crossed her hands over one another and closed her eyes. Her father stood over her, reciting the ancient chant from an old dusty tome covered in runes. The shaman placed his hand on her forehead, and Yoi's life force was drained from her and funneled into the land. The grass got greener, the forest came back to life, the animals calmed down and the waters became clear and drinkable again.

There was much rejoicing, even as the one who cast the life-saving spell degenerated into a sobbing mass of flesh, the people were cheering and making music, and dancing. Naruto came to the center of town grinning, knowing that the ritual he'd heard people speak of had worked like a charm. But why did he feel a growing sense of foreboding? As he made it to the center of town, his world shattered once again into a million tiny pieces.

Yoi, pale and white, lying on a slab of stone, the village elders standing around it. Her father, kneeling over her, wailing. He ran to her

"Yoi? Yoi? What's going on? Is she okay? Is she going to be okay?"

Her father just looked at him, tears falling town his face, facial features contorted in an expression of paternal pain.

"I'm afraid not my son" one of the elders said in a weary voice

"We've sacrificed her for the village" another stated quietly, voice consumed with guilt.

For the first time in almost a year, Naruto saw red, his hair got shaggy, his whisker marks more prominent, and he grew claws and fangs.

"_**Tell me how to save her!"**_ he yelled

"There's nothing you can do my son" another elder said shaking in fear.

Naruto grabbed an elder by the collar with his left hand, right hand poised to stab his claws into her face

"_**There must be a way! Tell me!**_" Naruto shouted desperately

The elder cringed "T-There i-is one way, Ride north over the bridge to the end of the world, there will be a temple. P-Place her o-on the altar there and make your wish."

Naruto's eyes softened to their usual sapphire hue "thank you" he said, letting the elder go.

Then he rushed over to Yoi, picking her up gently murmuring "don't worry, it'll be okay" more for his own sake than hers.

He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled for Kinaga. When his horse got to the village square, Naruto put Yoi on his back and made a wild ride to his home where he gathered his arrows, kunai, shiriken, sword and saddle. Then with Yoi on his back he rode north through a canyon with narrow ledges and across the bridge to the end of the world. As Kinaga crossed the threshold from the canyon to the bridge, he felt_ weak_ as though something was torn from him.

**"It's our chakra kit"**

"what?!"

**"Its our chakra, now step back over the threshold"**

"what like this?" Naruto stepped back over the barrier puzzled.

Kyuubi let out a huge breath, "what happened?" "Kyuubi?"

**"Just catching my breath kit, that... place, was killing me."**

"w-what d'ya mean?"

**"It drains chakra kit, I'm made almost entirely of chakra, thus any drain is like physical injury"**

"well what should we do? about it, I won't kill you fox, but I gotta say Yoi"

"**I think I may have a solution, just pump most of your chakra into the seal, and I'll create a barrier until we can find a better solution"**

"you won't betray me will you?"

**"I give you my word, we're in life together after all, and besides, I like the vixen too"**

"alright, here goes" Naruto pumped chakra into the seal until he felt the start of exhaustion, Kyuubi then made the excess chakra into a protective barrier around himself and the seal.

**"alright kit, until I find a better way to protect us, we wont be able to communicate, conventionally or this way, once you pass the threshold. I'll still know what's going on, I just won't be able to give you any insight"**

Naruto nodded grimly. "how long do you think?"

**"what're you gonna miss me or something?"**

"No you jerk! I just don't know what I'll be facing, and I might need your help"

**"depending on how powerful the drain is, at least six hours, so try not to die"**

"will do kitsune-teme"

**"don't call me that... and kit?"** "yeah?"** "good luck"**

Naruto crossed the bridge and nothing changed, he was already running on a bare minimum of chakra the only difference was a sense of loneliness when he realized that he was truly alone. without Kyuubi, who'd, up till now, been a constant companion.

At the top of the fifty story temple he traveled down through two gardens and a spiraling ramp, across a shallow pool of water. Through a great stone hall housing sixteen statues to an altar where he placed Yoi's body and screamed to the heavens

"I WISH FOR HER TO BE ALIVE!"

He waited

And the he got a surprising response from the ceiling

"**Well small one, to grant your wish, you must do a favor for me"**

"Show yourself! Who are you?!" Naruto shouted, drawing a kunai and looking frantically around

"**I am Dormin."**

**Slaying Giants**

_**A.N.**_ Well, I hope that wasn't too bad, it's my first fiction. Kyuubi will have more of a role next chapter, because the whole fic is basically Naruto, Kyuubi and Kinaga. There will likely be about eight more chapters in this fic. And I'll fix this chapter as well as likely post a new one next week. Everyone's going to be at least a little out of character.

As for pairing, this one will be NaruxOC with hints of NaruxSaku

Oh, and I sincerely hope you know what this is crossed with. The summary will show it next chapter, but for this one guess. Please review and leave constructive criticism.

Thanks

OS


	2. Valus

AN: So… I'm a dirty liar, I'm just starting this a day after I said I'd put it up so, ehh shrugs sorry I guess.

Oh before I forget I said I'd do my best to grant a request so… **Wana10**, what 'dya want? Leave your request in a review cuz I have no idea how to do PMs.

_**Disclaimer**_: OS owns nothing

"Normal" spoken word

"_Italics"_thoughts /emphasis on words/ written word/ flashback

"**Bold" **Kyuubi/Dormin spoken word

"_**Bold italics" **_Kyuubi/Dormin thoughts

_**"Everything" **_Colossus names

**Slaying Mountains**

By OS

Part 2

_That place…began with the resonance of intersecting points…They are memories replaced by ens and naught etched into stone. Blood, young sprouts, sky- and the one with the ability to control beings created from light…In that world, it is said that if one should wish it one can bring back the souls of the dead… But to trespass upon that land is strictly forbidden. Excerpt from the tome "wanderer and the colossus"_ (kudos to whoever can guess where the title came from)

"_**Well small one, in order for us to grant your wish, thou must accomplish a request of ours"**_

"_show yourself! Who are you!?"_

"_**I am Dormin"**_

**Slaying Mountains**

"**So thou art mortal small one, I had sensed something different"**

He turned his piercing blue eyes to the sunroof in the dome.

"I heard that in the ends of the world, there's something that can control the souls from the dead"

"**Thou heard correctly, we are known as Dormin"**

"She was willingly sacrificed for her village "he said sadly, gesturing to Yoi's body, laying on the altar.

A disembodied chuckle **"Her soul? Souls that are once lost can not be reclaimed… Is that not the law of mortals? However, it may not be impossible." **"Really?" he asked with some excitement. **"Of course that is only if thou manages to accomplish what we askest." **"Anything, what do I have to do?" the young man said with conviction, standing straighter as he did so. **"Look upon the idols that stand along the wall. Thou art to destroy all of them." **Naruto immediately jumped on the nearest statue, pounding upon it with the butt of his sword, and gnawing on it to no avail. "**Those idols cannot be destroyed by the mere hands of a mortal" **"then what should I do" Naruto said falling from his perch on the first idol

"**In this land there exist colossi that are the incarnations of those idols. If thou defeat those colossi… the idols shall fall." **"Alright, I'll do it!" Naruto said pumping his fist in the air. **"Heed this however, the price you pay may be heavy indeed." "**I don't care" He said looking at Yoi's face.

"… **Very well" **Naruto felt his attention being drawn south, past the altar **"Raise thy sword to the light, and receive the ability to both slay and find colossi" **Naruto raised his sword and the light from the grand hall's sunroof seemed to condense on it and give it an ethereal glow. Naruto heard kinaga getting restless, he looked down to find that humanoid shadows were coming out of the ground "what're those!?" **"Those are the souls of heroes long past, hold thine sword to the light and disperse them" **Naruto did what Dormin said and the shadowy figures dispersed into particles and were absorbed back into the floor.

"**Raise thy sword to the light and head to the place where the light gathers, there thou shalt find the colossi thou art to defeat… now be on thy way"**

Naruto walked out onto the balcony beyond the altar and raised his sword up in front of himself, Ignoring the glare from the sun in his eyes, he noted that the reflected light seemed to be pinpointed south, between two small hills. (quick AN: The lands at the end of the earth are way bigger in this fic, so Naruto will be spending more time there) Naruto whooped, and jumped down off of the balcony and started running south while whistling for Kinaga. When the white steed was galloping past him, Naruto jumped and pulled himself into the saddle, Kinaga not missing a step. After hours of riding south, Naruto stopped near a tall tree, surrounded by grass and with a small pond of water. Getting out of the saddle he told Kinaga,

"Rest, we'll be setting off again soon."

With that, he shot down a fruit from the tree. After eating it he felt… _stronger_ it was hardly noticeable but it was still there he was tougher. While walking back to the tree trunk, he unsheathed his sword and studied it; it had taken on an ethereal glow, and felt lighter in his hand.

Naruto sat with his back against the tree, trying to contact Kyuubi. Closing his eyes, he cleared his mind, so that he could reach into the part of his mind containing the seal.

The blond wanderer found it impossible to breathe. He opened his eyes to find himself completely submerged in fluid, thicker than water. His eyes widened, his heart rate sped up, and his mind was running a mile a minute. The sunshine haired adventurer immediately shot off swimming along the corridors he knew would lead to his tenant. On the home stretch, his lungs were past burning for air, and he was fighting to stay conscious, he was ready to swim into the seal chamber and see what had become of Kyuubi, when he was met with a glowing purple wall with tendrils of blue and red interspersed through it. Just as he was going to explore it further, he came to the conclusion that it was chakra, while he processed this thought, he inhaled some of the liquid, the last of his air escaped his mouth and his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out.

When the wanderer awoke, it seemed an hour had passed, and Kinaga was nosing his face. He swung himself into the saddle, and mentally berated himself for passing out, vowing to get to the bottom of things; he continued his wild ride south. After some more hard riding, checking his sword the entire way, with one extra break. Naruto made it to a short flight of stairs, where he dismounted kinaga and climbed about fifty feet of cliff in a round about way. (if you've played the game, the climbing tutorial part before the first colossus) As he crested the cliffs to find a scrubby plateau, he felt a rumble and almost lost his footing, he fell into a sturdier stance, one hand almost touching the ground. Naruto looked up and to his right, just in time to gaze upon the colossus. It was a giant, lumbering bearish looking thing with hooves and more prominent features made from what looked like stone. Covered in fur, nit had stone armor on its arms and legs, stone rings around it's biceps, and stone rings around it's chest and abdomen that held up what appeared to be platforms. Its face seemed to be made from stone and housed in a thick mat of fur, it carried a huge stone club in its right hand that, to it, had some heft but was effortlessly carried. Our protagonist now understood why Dormin had called this thing a colossus, it was practically a walking mountain, how was he supposed to beat this?

"_**Hold thy sword to reflect light onto the colossus and it's vitals shall be revealed."**_

"Oh… Dormin, is that you?"

The voice was gone.

"_Well, I guess I better do that then"_

As Naruto placed his hand on the sword, he felt a rumble and electricity shoot up his arm, he got an impression of a word

"_**Valus"**_

Shaking off the feeling, He held his sword so that it reflected light on the colossus, the light concentrated on the top of it's head, right between the ears. Naruto grinned… but it faltered as he sheathed his sword

Shaking off the foreboding feeling, he took off running

The ecstatic young man whooped and jumped into the air clapping his hands, before his feet had kissed the dirt, his bow was in his hand, and he'd nocked(am I right with this term? I read it in a book somewhere) an arrow, he pulled and released the string, and with a whistle and thunk, the arrow had embedded itself in the beast's back. The colossi's eyes turned from peaceful blue to fiery orange and it swung its club at him. Naruto rolled to the side, gathered his feet beneath him, and made a wild lunge for the mass's club barely managing to get a hold of one of the grooves that were sticking out of the face of the club. After the colossus had hefted its club up, our hero scrambled to the top of it, he threw himself at the great wrist bracers of it's arms, managing to seize a decorative ring. Naruto dragged himself up the beast's arm to a platform just above it's elbow, jumping from there to it's right deltoid muscle. Clenching, white-knuckled, to the fur of his opponent, Naruto scaled the moving, protesting, mountain that he was supposed to slay; finally making it to the vital point, with some trepidation; he unsheathed his sword, and made a mighty leap into the air to drive his sword hilt deep into the giant. Naruto fought to pull his sword from the beast. He did, and with a hollow roar of pain and anguish, the colossal creature died. Naruto tumbled to the ground, shaking, and upon hearing an unfamiliar noise, turned around to find that his slain foe had started to turn black, he realized, with a queasy feeling that the black originated from the stab wound that he had made. Then he saw the tentacles.

"Oh crap"

Was all that came to his mind as he saw, heard and _felt_ the jet black projections of morbid energy coming for him. He started to run, his heart rate increasing with his pace running faster and faster till he felt like he was moving at the speed of light.

He made it to the top of the chasm that he'd climbed what seemed so long ago.

"Kinaga!"

He screamed as he threw himself off the edge, looking back momentarily to see that the source of his mad flight had come closer to him in his momentary hesitation at the top of the canyon.

"Run that way, that way" he yelled waving his arms in the general direction of the temple.

He hit the ground. He landed some fifty feet down, pain lanced through his ankles, and he knew without the cushion of chakra that he'd enjoyed before he came to this accursed place, that he'd hurt himself.

Pushing the white-hot bolts of pain that drilled throughout his legs and back, he rolled to his feet and ran down the stairs to Kinaga. He noticed something black in his peripherals. All of the air was forced out of him and his body was in unimaginable pain, every nerve, every synapse, firing off signals that screamed agony. He couldn't scream because his lungs were hurting too badly from the initial shock of the tentacles. Through the continuous torture that his body was enduring he felt something _foreign _worming it's way into his stomach. Before he could even form a thought about this development, he passed out.

He thought he was dead. He saw a tunnel of light, yet he knew he was alive, he was still in pain.

All he could hear were the sounds of his own labored breathing….

**Slaying Mountains**

AN: So… I would've had this done at around 7 but my sister's a jerk. Short chapter, whatever.

Anyway, next time Naruto fights at least another colossus, I promise. I have no idea when the next chap will be released

I want your opinions on two things.

First, do you think that Naruto should start having conversations with Kinaga. He wont talk back, but I think it'd add depth to the relationship

Second, the colossi aren't going away, but I think that Naruto should speak to them, what are your thoughts?

Oh up next, might go back to Konoha and see how Sakura's doing. And depending on how many Colossi Naruto fights, Kyuubi might fix the "problem" so we'll see how that goes. leave your input in reviews.


	3. Intermission

AN: So… third chapter, I probably said I'd be taking some time off, but I lied. Without further ado

"Normal" Spoken word

"_Italics" _Thoughts/writing

"**Bold" **Non human speech

"_**Bold italics" **_Non human thoughts

"**Bold underline"** Colossi

**Slaying Mountains**

He awoke with a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, realizing somehow that he'd been returned to the shrine. Ninja senses, not at all dulled from the loss of chakra, he noticed a figure standing over him. Pulling out a kunai as he rolled over, he looked his would-be foe in the face.

"What the!?"

Naruto exclaimed sluggishly, still tired from his earlier experience. The figure standing over him just… fell.

It fell into his stomach, he was going to freak out when he felt a rumble, the first statue glowed from an inner light and just imploded.

He walked over to the altar to and looking at Yoi strengthened his resolve.

"**Thy next foe is in the seaside cave. It moves slowly… Raise thy courage to defeat it"**

"_This might work after all."_ He thought, completely forgetting about the events with the black figure.

However, his body was strange to him, he shook, and when he climbed into the saddle, his fingers fumbled and lost their grip, it wasn't until he felt the warmth of daylight beating down upon him that he noticed that he was outside. Shaking his head in a vain effort to rouse himself from his stupor, he raised his sword to the sky, and took off riding where the light took him.

While Naruto was off on his great journey of acceptance, loss and trial. Sakura was training. She didn't want to look at anyone's back anymore.

But currently she was blocked; she'd reached a 'plateau' of sorts, she just wasn't advancing in her training, and after nearly three weeks, it had started to worry her.

Tsunade-sama told her, that it occasionally happened to all shinobi, and that she had to either wait it out, or diversify herself in hopes of advancing somewhere else.

She was also worried about Naruto, one year had come and gone, but there was still no sign of Konoha's number one surprising ninja. She sighed, and decided to once again try to pass the trial that was the door to Naruto's apartment.

About three days after his departure, she'd tried to enter Naruto's apartment. Sakura had gone to the building where she knew he lived, and asked his landlord which apartment was his. The elderly man had smiled kindly at her, and led her up three flights of stairs to a wall with the numbers "313" carved into it and the Konoha leaf symbol below the room number.

There was no door, and the landlord had said, that the whole apartment had just disappeared. The windows weren't even on the outside of the apartment anymore.

He'd left he staring confusedly at the wall trying to figure out, what underneath the underneath meant to Naruto.

After figuring out the obvious solution to the puzzle, if you could call it that, The pink haired girl had pressed Naruto's discarded headband, metal side facing her, against the door. She hadn't really expected anything to happen; she hadn't expected the door to reappear in a puff of smoke. Dark mahogany with a slight covering of red chakra, Naruto's door cut an imposing figure in the bland hallway. She tried to push open the door, but when she placed her hand on the door-knob, in her head she heard Naruto's voice and a foreign one superimposed on top of each other _**"you're not ready"**_ and the door, was gone.

Since that day, she hadn't been back to that place; she tried to avoid the building if at all possible.

But today, she was returning to that dreadful hallway that filled her with so much anxiety, to challenge that imposing door that, while imposing, filled her with so much familiar warmth.

So there she stood. Gathering her courage, Sakura reached into the supply pouch that rested on her right hip to pull forth the worn headband that had protected two foreheads, one an experienced Chunin and one a Genin that had been through so much more that many full fledged ninja before him. It had sat, lonely and unused in drawer since that dreadful fateful day almost a year and a half ago.

The Hokage's apprentice placed the hitai-ate, metal facing her, on the wall, triggering once again the appearance of that despised door that had caused her advance so far in her training.

Sakura took a deep breath, and placed her hand on the doorknob…

And felt no resistance she turned it, and stepped into what seemed to be Naruto's apartment with no furniture or amenities at all. It was, for lack of a better word, strange. The whole apartment, if you could call it such, seemed to be buzzing with chakra. The room was completely bare save for the picture of team 7 taken so long ago, still in its frame, sitting on the floor in the center of the apartment.

Puzzled, Sakura walked several steps to the picture, keeping the headband that was a key in her hand.

When the bubblegum haired girl reached for the photograph, her hand phased through it as it disappeared, leaving the Konoha symbol once again, this time glowing faintly and as through a mirror.

She grinned and placed the headband down on the floor so that the symbols matched up.

Nothing happened

Her face fell

"Underneath the underneath huh?"

Sakura decided to pump some chakra through the hitai-ate

Almost before she did it, a giant sealing array bloomed from beneath her hands. Glowing with purple chakra and made up of spirals, the whole thing screamed 'Naruto'… well if only it was orange.

Looking around, she felt her eyes drawn to the ceiling, where writing started to appear

"_Sakura-chan, I'm glad you made it. In a few moments you should hear a sound, sort of like a door being unlocked, after that we should be able to speak freely." _

Sakura hunkered down to wait.

**Slaying Mountains**

After about five hours of running on Kinaga's part, and jostling contemplation on Naruto's, the blond wanderer felt a tugging sensation on his mind.

His eyes widened when he realized what was going on.

"Break time kinaga, I'm being paged"

The horse 'said' "Sure kid, try to pull yourself together" and slowed down so that Naruto could dismount.

Naruto settled down, pressing his back against a tree and unzipping his jacket. With his eyes closed, he prepared to enter his head.

Minutes later, the mountain slayer was subjected to that unfamiliar yet expected feeling of submersion.

Calmer this time around, he noticed something behind him. A white light and a feeling of… Anguish?

Resolving to check on it later, he headed the opposite direction to find a ladder leading to a trap door in the ceiling, he opened it and swam upward to _that_ room.

**Slaying Mountains**

Sakura hadn't been waiting long, about five minutes, when she heard a loud "click" like a key being turned in a lock. The room started to glow white with more and more intensity until the walls, floor and ceiling were all indistinguishable, just white that seemed to go on forever, she would have thought it did, except for the sealing array was still there and gave her an impression of the dimensions of the room.

She felt another presence and looked up just in time to hear

"_Hey… Sakura-chan"_

AN: Really short this time. yeah so this is part one of a two part update, the next one might be out tomorrow, depends on inspiration. Quick note, I'm kind of sick of not getting any reviews and what not, it drains my creativity when I don't get any you know?

Another note, you'll probably see more of Sakura later, since she'll be important, but don't worry, she's by no means the main character. Oh yeah, has anyone figured out what's wrong with Naruto yet? I tried to make the problem there without laying it on too thick; do you think I did alright with it? Oh if you do notice something wrong with him, review and tell me what you think it is, it's probably not what you think.


	4. Quadratus and other things

"Normal" spoken word

"_Italics"_Thoughts/emphasis/writing

"**Bold"**Non human spoken word

"_**Bold Italics"**_ Non human thoughts

"**Bold underline"**Colossi

'single quotes' imagine author doing "air quotes" in the back

Boring legal stuff: OS owns absolutely nothing.

AN: here's part 2

**Slaying Mountains**

By OS

Chapter 4

_She looked up just in time to 'hear'._

"_Hey…Sakura-chan"_

**Slaying Mountains**

He was proud of himself, sitting higher in the saddle; He'd been cool, calm and collected.

Naruto was worried that she thought he was dead though, what worried him more was that he wasn't sure if he was alive or not. He certainly didn't _feel_ dead; then again he didn't feel alive either. He felt strange, his body wasn't as responsive as it was before, but then again his past had felt like a distant fantasy. Naruto could remember important things, but not details, he couldn't remember exactly what Sakura-chan looked like on the day that he'd met her anymore, nor could he remember the 9 simple seasonings old man Ichiraku used anymore… was it nine seasonings? He couldn't quite remember.

"Hey, I think we're here" Kinaga 'said' as his loyal steed reared up on his back legs, shaking the wanderer out of his thoughts.

He peered down upon a huge rightward slanting slope curving gently downward past a huge stone pillar. But his eyes were drawn downward to what, from this far away, seemed to be a huge stone door. Summoning himself from his reverie, he held his sword up, and the light gathered to a point on the door, he'd expected that.

Collapsing into his thoughts again he had just enough time to recall the conversation he'd had with Sakura… well, the important parts.

He could remember that he'd given her part of the power that he'd saved in his preparations, (He couldn't give her all of it, but Kyuubi wasn't there.) and told her how to use it, He'd also told her to contact him when he figured Kyuubi would be back in commission.

A rumble resonating throughout his body made him snap his head up to see what could only be described as a giant ox breaking through the 'door'.

Crashing out onto the beach, was a giant ox that, like the colossus he'd fought previously, seemed to be made primarily from stone and grass. With a faceplate leading up to its brow, and a spine that looked to be on the outside of the creature, it cut a menacing figure… until it stepped past him to look at the ocean.

Naruto closed his eyes and balled his fists at his sides mumbling

"Come on, come on… I gotta do it…. come on… come on…. COME ON!"

The wanderer's eyes shot open, and with a primal yell, he urged Kinaga forward. Noticing that the beast's hooves glowed orange underneath, he pulled out two kunai and with a flick of his wrist they were embedded into the soles of its feet. The living mountain gave a scream of pain, and fell to its knees.

"Here's the chance!" he yelled, grinning

Placing his hand on the hilt of the sword, he felt a jolt of running up his arm through his whole body

"**Quadratus"**

The word pressed upon him with so much weight, he thought it had to be important. Filing the feeling away for another time, he clicked his heels on either side of his companion's ribs, and Kinaga took off at a fast gallop, coming towards the end of the beast at a slight angle, he had enough time to discover that it's vitals were on it's head and end before he had to jump and grab the convenient ledge that the beast's 'tail' made.

With sword in hand, he made the step climb up the quadruped while it was just shaking the kunai out of its feet and stood up.

Pulling his body to the crest of his foe, the first thing he noticed was the glowing sigil inches from his off-hand, which was gripping the creature's fur. Grinning, he jumped as high as he could, and drove his sword home in the center of the sigil.

A yell of pain later, the sigil had disappeared, and Naruto was holding on to the fur with his left hand sporting an expression that can only be described as apathetic. Yawning after the colossus had stopped thrashing around, he took of at a dead sprint, jumping over the protruding ribs that branched off of the great Ox's 'spine', soon he was standing over the creature's head.

"Here's the kicker!" he screamed confidently

Throwing himself into the air with every fiber of his being, he plunged the ethereal weapon into the head of his enemy. Rumbling greatly, the colossus gave it's death wail and fell to the ground, body already darkening from the mortal wound.

Naruto pulled his sword out of the beast laughing, but his glee stopped abruptly when he faced the sobering sight of his dying foe.

The pain hit him, throwing the breath from his body, he felt the sensation of something worming around inside him.

He had just enough time to wonder what Sakura was doing before he passed out.

**Slaying Mountains**

Sakura flexed and unfolded her cramped legs; it had been nearly two days since the conversation with Naruto. She was worried about him; he seemed confused and fundamentally… different, she guessed that was a consequence of dying… perhaps, he was sure if he had actually died but he did look it.

The Hokage's apprentice decided not to worry about it, instead she would have to get back to the task at hand. Sakura had one week to get a handle on the raging tsunami that Naruto said was only twenty percent of what he'd left for her, and three months after that to learn to control the rest of it in time for the next Chunin exams.

Closing her eyes and wiping blood across the seal, she smirked at the memory of what Naruto had said when she said she wanted the seal placed over her belly-button

"_Copying my style eh? Don't worry; it'll look good on you."_

She released the chakra and prepared to try to control it once again.

**Slaying Mountains**

Searing light destroys the blackness that enshrouded him. Once again Naruto was among the living. A second idol shattered, and a new goal set in place. Yet even the sight of two dove fluttering above Yoi can't shake the feeling of dread pulsing slowly through his body. Naruto noticed another shadow looming over him, only to dive into his body once he looks at it. Once again his worries were swept to the back of his mind by Dormin's rumbling voice

"**Raise thy courage. A giant canopy soars to the heavens. But the anger of the sleeping giant shatters the earth…"**

Shakily Naruto got up and started walking, towards his beloved, his jerky and unsure movements leading to his pitch forward onto his face.

He found himself submerged, but he didn't care, he swam forward towards the light that had called out to him in so much pain, what seemed so long ago.

Down hall ways and corridors he swam, coming eventually to the opening that should have led to the grand hall of the seal room, but there was only a sliding door, like the one he'd used to get into the temple.

When the door opened, he was horrified by what he saw. The two idols that he'd destroyed were here, the only difference being that they were situated about ten feet higher, at the base of each idol was a set of double doors, pure white with red roman numerals on them.

Naruto swam to the I door, it was shining with an inner light, and practically stunk of the anguish the he'd felt earlier. Making his decision, he pushed the doors open and swam into the light.

He could breathe. It was bright. It was warm.

He opened his eyes to the labored breathing of the first colossus, laying prostrate on the ground in front of him, looking as though it were taking its dying breaths. Though somehow he knew, it had been like this since he'd slain it.

He reached out to it, placing his hand on it's cold stone forehead

"I'm sorry"

The colossus gave him a look that calmed the storm that was his mind, it had been raging out of control like a fire since he'd come to the end of the world. He'd been alone, he'd been stripped of his power…

He had killed.

His eyes gained their focus when the colossus seemed to stir. Panting with the effort it asked him a question.

"**What… is… thy… name?"**

"Naruto"

"**nice… to…meet… you…"**

"What's yours?"

"**Do you not remember it?"**

"Valus… right?"

"**That… it… is"**

With that, Valus gave its dying breath as its body turned to stone and it was blown away as dust by the wind. Naruto fell to his knees, oblivious to the ground underneath him changing, from barren and dusty, to a field of green and flowers. Naruto didn't notice in his grieving

"Cheer up kid."

Naruto looked up to see a man stepping out of the woods at the edge of the now beautiful meadow.

"I'm fine, you see"

The great bear of a man waved his arms with a grin, walking over to Naruto to offer him a hand up.

"Valus?"

"In the flesh kid" He said with a smirk

The man that was Valus stood about seven feet tall, powerfully built, and with a bit of facial hair growing along his jaw line, stopping just after his ears and some extra facial hair all covering some five o' clock shadow. He had a shaggy mane of brown hair that hung down around his head, not really cut into any particular style. He wore a brown shirt with the sleeves torn off and plain olive green trousers, he'd kept the stone rings around his biceps that he'd worn as a colossus. It was obvious that the man was no Shinobi, but the way he moved, and the club on his back told you that he could easily become very dangerous. He ruffled Naruto's hair with a huge smile and, to Naruto, it felt like he'd known the man forever.

"Hey! Don't call me a kid old man" Naruto said, back to his care free attitude

"Older than you kid" Valus laughed

"Whatever" Naruto snorted, lowering his perceived maturity even more.

"Anyway, what's the situation? Why are you here? And what's going on with my mind?" Naruto questioned

"Right, well" Valus said ticking off his fingers " I'm not sure of the situation, I just know I'm here to help, and my guess is that your mind's underwater from being in the end of the world. But enough of the depressing stuff."

"alright… we should probably introduce ourselves" Naruto said

"Wha? Didn't we do that already?"

"I meant like telling each other our likes, dislikes and dreams for the future"

"Okay well I'm Valus…"

Naruto listened intently, thrilled to finally have someone to talk to after being alone for days.

**Slaying Mountains**

_**AN**_: So here's this. So yeah, ninety percent of why Naruto was so weird was because Valus was his first kill. There you go uhh this chap is pretty self explanatory so, I guess I'll try to have something out over the weekend…probably, depends on how it goes.

Oh please review noun, adjective verb compliment etc.period.

OS out


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